Increasing the WLAN card's reception sensitivity a bit

Discussion in 'Networking and Computer Security' started by longtalker, May 16, 2010.

  1. longtalker

    longtalker Geek Trainee

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    Hi everybody,

    I have a very poor WiFi reception at my present location, and in order for Windows (XP) to stay connected to the WLAN, I have to use my laptop in awkward positions! :)

    I already set the WLAN card's parameters available from Hardware Management that I thought might increase its reception sensitivity (Power Management, Roaming Aggressiveness, Throughput Enhancement, Transmit Power) to their maximum performance value, but even so, the difference between staying connected and getting disconnected is so small that if I move the laptop literally a few centimetres from its "preferred" spot, the connection is lost. I would therefore need a small extra boost in my network card's sensitivity - does anyone know how I might achieve this?

    Many thanks in advance for any replies!

    (I should add that I cannot in any way influence the positioning or any other settings relating to the router that supports this WLAN, so any tweaks would have to be performed locally, on my own WLAN card)
     
  2. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    You could add a wireless repeater on your end to amplify the signal for your laptop. In such a situation, you'd strategically position your repeater in such a way that it has good signal from your upstream wifi provider. Then your laptop will only have to connect to your repeater rather than the far-off original source.

    Another option is a wireless bridge, that will connect to the upstream wifi source as above. The difference in this scenario is that the connection would be shared between the bridged access point and your laptop via a network cable rather than wifi. That would remove the laptop's flimsy wifi card from the equation entirely, but at the expense of effectively tethering it to your wireless bridge.
     
  3. longtalker

    longtalker Geek Trainee

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    Many thanks for your well-informed reply, I really appreciate it!
     
  4. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    No problem, hope the info helps you out.
     

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